Hill Thread

Numbers 22:1-6
1 The Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan across from Jericho. 2 Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous, and dreaded the Israelites. 4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us like an ox eats up the green plants in the field.”
Since Balak son of Zippor was Moab’s king at that time, 5 he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. Balak said to him: “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the land and are living right across from me. 6 Please come and put a curse on these people for me because they are more powerful than I am. I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed.”

Deuteronomy 23:3-5
3 No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the LORD’s assembly; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, may ever enter the LORD’s assembly. 4 This is because they did not meet you with food and water on the journey after you came out of Egypt, and because Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim was hired to curse you. 5 Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, but He turned the curse into a blessing for you because the LORD your God loves you.

Related Text:
Genesis 12:1-3
Numbers 22-24
Joshua 24:8-10
2 Peter 2:15-16

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Can You Hear Me Now?

Balaam’s story is interesting because he’s famous for the strange way God got his attention – through a talking donkey. Today’s scripture shows us that Balaam was originally hired to curse the Israelites. He tried, but God had other plans, and turned Balaam’s curse into a blessing. God revealed Himself to Balaam in a very interesting way.

One day Balaam was riding a donkey and an angel appeared before them both. Balaam didn’t see the angel at first, but the donkey saw it and got spooked and went crazy. Three times the donkey went wild, and all three times Balaam beat the animal because of it’s actions, and because he still didn’t see the angel. Balaam was oblivious to the angel, and was just trying to wrangle his “bucking bronco”.

Then God caused the donkey to speak, saying “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” Numbers 22:28 That’s right, the donkey asked Balaam what’s up with all of the beatings, don’t you see this angel right here bro? After the donkey talked, now it was Balaam’s turn to go crazy.

God was attempting to stop Balaam’s direction and redirect Him by speaking through a donkey. Balaam finally figured it out and responded to God with repentance. Does God have your full attention? Ask Him today if you are heading in the right direction with your life. Don’t avoid change if God is sending you some signals.

Numbers 21:4-9
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. 5 The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!” 6 Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.
7 The people then came to Moses and said, “We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Intercede with the LORD so that He will take the snakes away from us.” And Moses interceded for the people.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake image and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will recover. 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.

John 3:14-17
10 “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 ” I assure you: We speak what We know and We testify to what We have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I have told you about things that happen on earth and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about things of heaven? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven -the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.
16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world that He might judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

Related Text:
Exodus 16:6-12
Numbers 14:26-37
2 Kings 18:1-4
1 Corinthians 10:1-11

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Think Before You Speak

God’s people were short-sighted. They couldn’t see God’s plan, or they chose not to trust in God’s appointed leader, Moses. Either way, they had no confidence in their current situation and decided to complain again and turn against God and Moses. Then, as soon as the snakes started killing off people, they repented and pleaded with Moses to ask God to rescue them. God did.

And He has rescued us all by sending Jesus as a sacrifice for us, once for all. We must never forget what God has done for us, or we just might end up complaining about God’s blessings in our own lives.

Proverbs 5:1-4
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
listen well to my words of insight,
2 that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
4 but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.

Proverbs 5:15-23
15 Drink water from your own cistern,
running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer-
may her breasts satisfy you always,
may you ever be captivated by her love.
20 Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress?
Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
21 For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD,
and he examines all his paths.
22 The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.
23 He will die for lack of discipline,
led astray by his own great folly.

Related Text:
Exodus 20:14
Leviticus 20:10
Proverbs 2:16-22
Provers 6:23-35
Proverbs 7
Ephesians 5:1-3

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Time For Exercise

Today’s scripture is about a father’s wisdom to his son, focusing in on the son’s relationship with his wife. The father instructs his son to be careful and faithful in his marriage.

If you are a guy, write down 3 qualities that you would like to have as a husband, whether you’re married or not. Next to each quality, write down a goal that you can work to accomplish that would help develop that quality. Pray and ask God to help mature you spiritually and help develop the qualities that you have listed.

—QUALITY——————————————-GOAL
1.
2.
3.
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If you are a female, write down 3 qualities that you would like to see in your husband, either your future husband or your current husband if you’re already married. Pray to God asking Him to transform you into the kind of woman who will love and be faithful to her husband. Seek God’s help and wisdom to become a wife who will aid her husband in developing the qualities that you have listed.

—QUALITY——————————————-GOAL
1.
2.
3.

Hebrews 12:4-11 (The Message)
In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through-all that bloodshed! So don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline,
but don’t be crushed by it either.
It’s the child he loves that he disciplines;
the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

Related Text:
Deuteronomy 8:5
1 Samuel 2:12-36
Proverbs 3:11-12
Proverbs 15:5
Revelation 3:14-20

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DISCIPLINE
Another word we use today to describe “discipline” is “punish”. We associate the two words very commonly, probably because we were “disciplined” or “corrected” by being punished. (for me, it was punished with a spanking, lol)

Another word for “discipline”, which is used in today’s passage, is “correct”. God “corrects” or “disciplines” those He loves. Discipline means correction.

God’s discipline is meant to move you toward spiritual maturity, to correct you so you might be holy. Proverbs 10:17 provides this instruction, “He who heeds discipline shows the way to life,but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.”

God loves you so much that He wants you to gain understanding and learn to celebrate life to it’s fullest; the new life He has given you through the blood of Jesus. You can open yourself to God’s correction and His knowledge and teaching by diving into His Word, the Bible, and spending time seeking His desires for your new life. Listen to God’s Spirit and learn from Him; be obedient. You might learn from Him by learning from fellow followers of Jesus. Whatever happens, whatever you go through, don’t turn your back on God’s correction.

Proverbs 4:1-12
1 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
2 I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a boy in my father’s house,
still tender, and an only child of my mother,
4 he taught me and said,
“Lay hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands and you will live.
5 Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or swerve from them.
6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
7 Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
8 Esteem her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
9 She will set a garland of grace on your head
and present you with a crown of splendor.”
10 Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
11 I guide you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

Related Text:
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Proverbs 1:8
Proverbs 6:20-24
Proverbs 31:1-9
2 Timothy 1:2-3

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Do You Know What You’re Teaching?
The book of Proverbs is filled with very rich, very practical, and sometimes very common sense wisdom. The following 2 selections from Proverbs have to do with the wisdom that parents can provide.

Proverbs 1:8-9
8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
9 They will be a garland to grace your head
and a chain to adorn your neck.

Proverbs 6:20-22
20 My son, keep your father’s commands
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
21 Bind them upon your heart forever;
fasten them around your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you sleep, they will watch over you;
when you awake, they will speak to you.

God’s Word tells us to honor our parents, listen to what they have to say, and be obedient. It’s one of the ten commandments, it’s in proverbs, and it also pops up in the New Testament in Colossians and Ephesians.

But as a new parent, I read these Bible verses from a whole new point of view now. As a parent, I have to know God’s Word if I am going to teach the right things to my children! WOW, that’s HUGE! It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children about God, about all He has done for us, and about how He wants us to live our lives. To teach it and to instruct our children about God’s Word, we must know God’s Word! There’s no other way around it. This is big time stuff. Deuteronomy 6:6-12 tells us flat out to surround our kids with God’s Word.

And if you’ve dismissed today’s Bible study up to this point because you don’t have kids or you’re still a teenager, then think on this. Children aren’t the only reason to be obedient to God. Having kids puts verses like the one’s we’ve read today into a different perspective, but I’m not saying that having kids is the only reason to know God’s Word. We should surround our lives with the knowledge and wisdom of God. We should be obedient to God out of love for God, and love for God doesn’t depend on whether or not we are parents yet. We should strive to become spiritually mature, to be closer to God more and more every day. The Fruit of the Spirit should be so evident in our lives that it overflows onto everyone we have contact with; friends, family, co-workers, other students at school, the checker at the grocery store, and, yes, our kids too, if we have them.

Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the LORD your God is giving you

Proverbs 17:21
A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow;
the father of a fool has no joy.

Proverbs 23:15-19
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart will indeed rejoice.
16 My innermost being will cheer
when your lips say what is right.
17 Don’t be jealous of sinners;
instead, always fear the LORD.
18 For then you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.

Colossians 3:16-21
16 Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
18 Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and don’t become bitter against them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won’t become discouraged.

Related Text:
Exodus 21:15
Leviticus 19:3
Proverbs 10:1
Proverbs 23:22-25
Ephesians 6:1-3

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What If . . .

There is a way to celebrate Father’s Day every day. It’s a different type of celebration though, because it doesn’t celebrate our human fathers . . . rather, our one and only Heavenly Father, the God of the Most High, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It celebrates God who sent His son Jesus to die in our place.

So here’s what you can do:

1. You can celebrate God as your CREATOR. God made the delicate, inner parts of your body and knit you together in your mother’s womb. Praise Him that He knew you even before you were born. Worship God for all that He has made.

2. You can celebrate God as your COMFORTER. God will never let you down. We will always have people in our lives who will let us down at one point or another. People have a knack of messing up when we need them the most. But not God. He’s there for us. He will rescue us. He is our defender, our rock, our fortress. Whom will we fear with God as our comfort and peace? No one. Thank God right now that He gives us peace and strength and that He will rescue us and be our comfort and security.

3. Celebrate God as your CHALLENGER. God doesn’t want you to get stuck and bog down in your life. He doesn’t want you to get stuck in a sin-rut. God challenges us, He demands that we throw off our old sinful self and live our new life in Jesus. As followers of Jesus as the Messiah, we were crucified with Christ and no longer live our own life, but Christ lives in us and through us. God wants us to grow, change, and mature. He wants us to live according to His standard, as children of light. Worship God today because He cares enough about us to challenge us to live a righteous life, according to His will.

Is there any better, more appropriate way to honor God than to be obedient to Him?

Galatians 3:26-29
26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 4:2-7
2 Instead, he is under guardians and stewards until the time set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world. 4 But when the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ” Abba , Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

1 John 3:1-2
1 Look at how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.

Related Text:
Deuteronomy 32:6
Psalm 2
Isaiah 9:1-7
John 1:12-13
Romans 8
Hebrews 12:1-14

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Just a Thought
How comforting is it to know that we are God’s children!? Every day can be father’s day, as we praise God and thank Him for all that He has done for us. Rejoice in the fact that God loves you and accepts you just the way you are.

Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Zechariah 14:9
The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

Romans 3:29-30
29 Or is God for Jews only? Is He not also for Gentiles? Yes, for Gentiles too, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

1 Corinthians 8:5-6
5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth-as there are many “gods” and many “lords”-
6 yet for us there is one God, the Father,
from whom are all things, and we for Him;
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things, and we through Him.

Ephesians 4:4-6
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Related Text:
Isaiah 44:6-8
Malachi 2:10
Matthew 19:16-17
Matthew 23:1-10
Mark 12:28-34

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What Would Your Answer Be?
When Jesus was asked which of the Ten Commandments was most important, He said, “This is the most important . . . listen Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29-30)

There is no question about the importance of loving God and ONLY loving God. This may be opposed to the way that some of your friends or family think about how they live their life. But the Bible is very clear about loving only God. The first commandment in Exodus 20 told us not to have any other gods besides the One True God, God that brought the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, God the Father of Jesus. And the second commandment in Exodus 20 tells us not to make up any idols, but to only worship God, and God alone.

Check out Isaiah 44 verses 6 and 8. “I am the first and I am the last. There is no God but Me.” “You are My witnesses! Is there any God but Me? There is no other Rock; I do not know any.”

God must be the only focus of our praise and worship.

Psalm 139:1-6
1 LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, LORD.
5 You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me.
6 This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.

Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!
How unsearchable His judgments
and untraceable His ways!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been His counselor?
35 Or who has ever first given to Him,
and has to be repaid?
36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Hebrews 4:12-13
12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Related Text:
Psalm 94:1-11
Proverbs 5:21
1 Chronicles 1:18-25
2 Chronicles 16:9
John 3:19-20

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If You Play Hide-and-Seek with God, He Always Wins . . . Always
No matter what we do, no matter how we act around this group of friends or that group of co-workers, no matter what our motives are to go to church, be pleasant to our family, or even help those in need, God knows. He knows why we do what we do.

If you’re anything like me, you try to present the best of you. There’s nothing wrong with this, not really. In it’s innocence, it’s really just trying to be pleasant to those around you. Like for example: You’ve had a horrible day at work and nothing has gone right, and stuff is just piling up everywhere, but you choose not to be rude to or cuss at the person in line ahead of you that’s keeping you from checking out and getting home to see your family because they don’t know how to operate the self-checkout machine. You’re not letting your negative circumstances control your interactions with others.

But this can become a problem super quick when we aren’t spending time developing our relationship with God. What happens is that we begin to hide stuff from others. It’s kind of like an evolution of our attitude. We go from avoiding holding a grudge or avoiding the chip on our shoulder to hiding the grudge and hiding the chip. If we aren’t careful, we will go from not allowing negative circumstances affect how we interact with others, to hiding all of our bad stuff, or hiding our hate or bad attitude, and putting on a mask to appease whoever it is that we are around. This is where the word “hypocrite” always comes into play.

When we begin hiding stuff, we also begin hiding our sin. Our sin is a natural thing to hide when we find ourselves in this downward spiral of hiding and hypocrisy. We try to act like everything is perfect, including us. We can almost hide it from ourselves. What I mean here is, we hide for so long, we pretend for so long, that we begin to lie to ourselves. We buy in to our own “performance” around others and before long, we don’t take our sin seriously. We may even stop asking for forgiveness, because it just doesn’t feel important to us anymore because we have bought into the performance that there isn’t anything we need to ask forgiveness about. Then, since we’re “ok”, we begin to try and “fix” others. Or, if we can’t “fix” them, we’ll at least talk about how they need to be fixed. Basically, we’ve turned into a crappy Christian.

So how do we avoid falling down this mountain of hiding and faking? I think that it starts with our devotion to God. We have to recognize that we cannot hide anything from God. We cannot fake out God and pretend enough to convince Him that we are somebody we aren’t. We have to be humble before God and realize that He sees everything we do and He knows all about our motives and our attitude. He knows who we are and He knows exactly why we do everything that we do. Let me stress that spending time with God, spending time reading His Word, not giving up on our relationship with God, and trying daily to live for Jesus will give you the strength, love, joy and humility to recognize and avoid hypocritical behavior. When we spend time with God, when we are truly devoted to living for Jesus, we will produce the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It won’t be fake and it won’t be covering up anything. It will be natural, sincere and evident to everyone that we interact with.